Twisted, Chapter 5

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Following the flurry of activity with the ambulance arriving and leaving, and Dana and Jason Locke taking off to the hospital after it, Brad was left by himself in the home.

"We can't leave him here," Elliot said, "I can't believe they left him."

"I'm ten-years-old. I'm almost a teenager. I can take care of myself. My parents leave me alone all the time," Brad exclaimed, putting his game on the counter. "I don't need a freaking baby-sitter."

"Look, your brother is missing and your sister just showed up with a gash in the back of her head. You're not staying here alone," Elliot told him.

"El, go outside and see what's going on. I'll stay inside with him until I figure out what to do with him. We'll probably take him by the hospital," Olivia offered.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here. Everyone does that! It's annoying!" Brad yelled. "Everyone was acting like Ben would be okay with Brooke, that she would protect him, and now Brooke's back and Ben's not," he lowered his face, tears threatening to spill out, "Ben's probably dead."

Olivia rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She expected him to squirm away but instead he fell into her embrace, sobs wracking his body. "I just want things to go back to normal. And if I want that, I have to tell the truth about what I saw."

"What'd you see?" Elliot demanded, stepping closer to them.

"This old guy…He was in our room, facing Ben's bed, but I thought I was dreaming so when I woke up, I didn't think anything of it," he said, still hugging Olivia.

"Brad, why didn't you tell us before?"

"Because I went to my dad after he called the police, and I was like 'dad, I saw some guy in the room last night, but I thought I was dreaming', and he told me to shut up and that I was dreaming. And that I better not say anything or they'll take me away to where they take crazy people. You won't really do that will you?"

"No, of course not Brad. Did you get any look at the man's face?"

"No, I was only awake for a little while and then I fell asleep."

"You've been a big help, Brad. Hey, while Elliot goes outside, why don't you show me how to play this game?"

Elliot walked outside, knowing that there was more to the case then a pedophile abducting the pair. There had to be.

There were still many police officers and investigators milling around. He followed the trail of officers and blood for a few feet until it turned into the alley.

An investigator named James Dirk raised a broken piece of wood and showed it to Elliot as Elliot neared him. "This is definitely what was used to attack Brooke Locke," he said, pointing out the blood on the end of the wood. "And since it seems like kind of a frenzied attack, I'd assume that there weren't gloves used and that you'll probably get fingerprints off it. I'm sending it to the lab now, and I'll get a rush on it," he told him.

"Thanks. You think you know how it played out?" Elliot asked, looking around. It was your typical NYC alley, one they found themselves in on a near-weekly basis. Dumpsters, discarded wood and other debris littered the alley. No windows faced this alley, of course, which Elliot expected given the way this investigation was going.

"She was obviously hit from behind, and I doubt she was being chased because there are apartments all down the back alley that this connects to and no one reported hearing a commotion. Whoever attacked her either hid here, which seems unlikely, or saw her walking through it and attacked her then."

"Thanks, James," Elliot told him as the guy walked off to ensure that the wood went straight to the lab. He walked back to the Locke home, where Brad was excitedly showing Olivia how to play one of his games. "Hey, buddy, how about we take you to the hospital?" Elliot asked, smiling at him.

Brad shrugged and put his game in his coat pocket. He took Olivia's hand and the three walked out to the squad car.

At the hospital, Dana hugged Brad. "Oh, baby, we didn't mean to leave you there, everything just happened at once."

"How's Brooke?" Brad asked, ignoring her apology.

"She's okay. She's awake, we just got done seeing her for a few minutes," Jason told his son, not meeting Olivia and Elliot's eyes.

"We need to talk to her, to get as much information as we can," Olivia said. Dana nodded, but Jason just looked away.

"Did she say anything about it yet?" Elliot asked.

"No, nothing. We didn't talk about it, we just made sure she was okay…Then remembered Brad and came out here to call someone to grab him," Dana laughed, obviously embarrassed about the situation.

"Well we're going to go talk to her. Please don't come in…It's always easier without parents," Olivia told them.

Elliot and Olivia got Brooke's room number and walked in. She was laying quietly, staring out the window.

"Hey, Brooke," Elliot greeted her.

She turned her head and smiled meekly at them.

"I'm Elliot, this is my partner Olivia. We just want to ask you a few questions. It's really important, but we'll try to be as quick as we can. We have to find your brother."

"Brad's in the lobby, my parents told me. Ben's probably with a friend," she said dismissively.

Olivia and Elliot exchanged a sideways glance. Amnesia…? They both seemed to have the same thought. They knew from hearing the medics talk that the injury looked a lot worse than it really was, and that the major contributing factor to her passing out was more from shock and blood loss than an injury to the brain.

"Brooke, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember being at the house after being in the alley…Someone came up from behind me and smacked me in the head. By the time I stood up and turned around, they were gone…So I walked home and then I know I passed out."

"What about before that?" Olivia continued her questioning.

"Look, I'm sorry for running away. I didn't know that they could still call the police on me if I'm 18 and in college," she muttered bitterly. "I wasted your time and I'm sorry."

"Brooke—what about your brother? Ben? Where'd you take him?" Elliot asked, starting to get a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"I-I didn't take Ben anywhere! I left last night after my dad went to the store…I just kind of ran until I couldn't run anymore, and then ran some more," she admitted. "Why? What happened? Is Ben okay?"